Billy Joel and Elton John reinforce their status as rock legends at Ford Center
Screams echoed as two iconic musicians took Ford Center stage Thursday night. Appearing from opposite sides of the stage, Billy Joel and Elton John met in the middle to perform in their latest concert installment of the 2009-2010 Face 2 Face tour. The original November OKC concert date was postponed after John’s hospitalization with E.…
Recurring Themes
The Whole Truth and Nothing But: Last August, an applicant for the police force in Montgomery, Ala., following directions to be truthful during the job interview, admitted that he owned child pornography. He was of course not hired, but arrested. In January 2010, 170 miles to the south in Pensacola, Fla., another law-enforcement applicant, Clarence…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Metaphorically speaking, you have recently begun crossing the water in a dream boat that has a small leak. If you keep going, it’s possible you will reach the far side before sinking. But that’s uncertain. And even if you were able to remain afloat the entire way, the shakiness of the situation would probably fill…
Sticky stakes
Arguably the world’s most famous gas station/diner with a giant soda bottle outside, Arcadia’s iconic Pops is poised to sell its millionth bottle of pop, having opened three years ago. To celebrate, whoever buys that benchmark bottle of carbonated water ” perhaps even by press time ” is going to drive off from the Route…
Incumbent Cindy Rosenthal to face councilman Hal Ezzell in Norman’s mayoral race on Tuesday
Normanites will chose between two candidates Tuesday when they vote for mayor. The candidates are current Mayor Cindy Rosenthal and Hal Ezzell, a member of the Norman City Council. Mayor Rosenthal graduated from Illinois’ Northwestern University and later from the University of Oklahoma with a doctorate in political science in 1995. Her interest in public…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
We cannot change anything until we accept it, said psychologist Carl Jung. “Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” Make that your hypothesis, Aquarius, and then conduct the following experiment. First, choose some situation you would like to transform. Next, open your heart to it with all the love and compassion you can muster. Go beyond…
Bountiful’ is straightforward and mostly satisfying with its story of longing and hometown identity
The Trip to Bountiful8 p.m. Thursday-SaturdayPollard Theatre120 W. Harrison, Guthriewww.thepollard.org282-2800$13.15-$17.50 If Central Oklahoma theater had a queen, it would be Brenda Williams. Audiences have watched her grow up in the theater in dramas, comedies, musicals, and contemporary and classical plays, taking on both leading and supporting roles and in a one-woman show. I’ve never seen…
OKC Gridiron Club lampoons local and national newsmakers with its annual sketch comedy show
Oklahoma City Gridiron Club comedy showLyric Plaza Theatre1727 NW 16th7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday www.okcgridiron.org.$25 If you like “Saturday Night Live”-styled political skits, you’ll love the Oklahoma City Gridiron show. The Oklahoma City Gridiron Club stages its annual political sketch show at 7:45 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday at the Lyric Plaza Theatre, 1727…
Sooner Uri-nation
As a prep athlete at Enid High School, Austin Box led the Plainsmen to the Class 6A state championship game. He was a whiz kid on the gridiron, but now he’s making news after allegedly taking a wiz outside of a toilet bowl. The sophomore linebacker for the Sooners was arrested early Feb. 13 for…
Compelling and complex ‘Two Rooms’ focuses on hostage-taking and international incident-making
ern countries, so Lainie’s silence also keeps Michael’s story from generating negative publicity that would be the bane of the presidential administration.So whose best interest does Ellen really have in mind? Enter Walker, who has no problem making the government feel uncomfortable. In fact, that’s his job, some would say. He implores Lainie for her…
Taking sides on abortion
A Commentary in the Feb. 10 Gazette by Scott Jones suggested a “weakness” of position on the part of the pro-life movement. An interesting theory with very interesting timing considering the militant demonstration debacle by the pro-choice movement over the Super Bowl ad with Tim Tebow and his mother. The ad clearly displayed the “witness…
PR BS
Lots of press releases related to the Sooner State cross our desk. This week, these titles least screamed “Stop the presses!” “”Deloitte Receives ISO/IEC 20000-1:2005 Certification”””Business Fleet Magazine Article Confirms Benefits from Implementing a Fuel Management Solution”””Holly Energy Partners, L.P. Files 2009 Form 10-K”””Receivables Online Expo Showcases United Recovery Systems”””Sea Ray and MarineMax Launch National…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
More than a few fairy tales feature the theme of characters who accidentally find a treasure. They’re not searching for treasure, don’t feel worthy of it, and aren’t fully prepared for it. They may initially not even know what they’re looking at, and see it as preposterous or abnormal or disquieting. Who could blame them…
We The Kings make a go at the pop/rock throne with latest decree ‘Smile Kid’
We the Kings with Mayday Parade, A Rocket to the Moon and There for Tomorrow6:30 p.m. MondayDiamond Ballroom8001 S. Easternwww.diamondballroom.net866-966-1777$16 advance, $19door While the media fuels the furor over sexting and fears of rampant teenage promiscuity, ample evidence remains that innocence isn’t lost, and that youthful existence is still a lot more “Pretty in Pink”…
Two mixed-media artists join for a show matching precious artifacts with contemporary remnants
Martha Avrett and Cole Cathey both create art around found objects, but while she loves bones unearthed in Italian fields, he uses discarded wine bottles picked up in rural Oklahoma. Their distinct art styles will contrast Old World elegance with Western pop art in an exhibition at the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery. Originally from…
After years of roadwork, Stoney LaRue is finally ready for his second studio album
Stoney LaRue and the Arsenals 10:30 p.m. Saturday Wormy Dog Saloon 311 E. Sheridan www.wormydog.com 601-6276 $15 By his own admission, things have really fallen into place for Stoney LaRue. “I just fell into the right spot, got on the right train at the right point,” he said. “So far, I’ve been very blessed.” Of…
OKC’s drunken elephant
The Thunder basketball team has proven Oklahoma City is in the big leagues now, and MAPS 3 promises to keep the city’s momentum going for years to come. But there’s at least one thing holding the city back: Oklahoma’s antiquated, dysfunctional liquor laws. It’s the drunken, hypocritical elephant in the room often invisible to city…
Local woman’s need for bone marrow transplant draws attention to ongoing need for donors
When Dee Dee Dixon Rund was diagnosed with leukemia, her friends and colleagues drew on their business expertise to help save her life. “I am a businesswoman, and I work with business owners, and I know that the way to accomplish something is to set a goal, and set a deadline, and have a defined…
Unclear on the Concept
A 27-year-old man was arrested for trespassing in January in Seattle’s Lusty Lady peep-show arcade, whose layout is a strippers’ dance stage surrounded by private viewing stalls for customers. According to police, the man climbed from his stall, through a ceiling panel, and navigated the overhead crawl space, which only allowed him to peep at…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
If you were going to launch a career as a rap artist any time soon, I’d suggest that maybe you use the alias “Big Try” as your stage name. If you were planning to convert to an exotic religious path and get a new spiritual name, I’d recommend something like “Bringit Harder” or “Pushit Stronger.”…
Feed the hype
It has been awhile since Oklahoma City-based charity Feed the Children received positive news. And last week, the news got worse. Still reeling from scandals ” including last year, when FTC founder Larry Jones was fired amidst bribery and kickback allegations ” the well-known organization had a chance to refurbish its tarnished image by helping…
The Continuing Crisis
In February, the Board of Trustees of Saugatuck Township, Mich., scheduled a May referendum asking voters for an increase in the property tax in order to cover unanticipated new expenses. The budget overrun was due to the mounting costs of defending lawsuits by people and companies complaining that the Township’s property taxes are too high.…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Some Scorpios bring out the worst in people. Other Scorpios draw out the best. Then there are those members of your tribe who sometimes bring out the worst in their fellow humans and other times bring out the best. Where do you fit in this spectrum? Regardless of your position up until now, I’m betting…
Alt-country icons Old 97’s continue a three-day Oklahoma tour with a Bricktown show
Old 97’s with Telegraph Canyon8 p.m. FridayWormy Dog Saloon311 E. Sheridan www.wormydog.com601-6276$20 Rhett Miller still dreams about his band. Since forming in Dallas in 1993, Old 97’s have recorded seven full-length studio albums in addition to a handful of other releases, including split EPs, compilations and live recordings. The band ” singer/guitarist Miller, bassist Murry…
Reduxion makes ‘Twelfth Night’ accessible, relevant and entertaining to modern audiences
Twelfth Night8 p.m. Thursday-SaturdayReduxion TheatreCity Arts Center3000 General Pershingwww.reduxiontheatre.com651-3191$15, students/seniors $12 Keeping with the winning formula of past Reduxion shows, the setting of “Twelfth Night” has been updated to a not-so-distant past that audiences can identify more easily with “? in this case, France in 1888. In the hands of a lesser company, shifting a…
Inexplicable
Police are still baffled by how Gregory Denny, 37, was able to “deport” Cherrie Belle Hibbard from her home in Hemet, Calif., in January back to her native Philippines. According to Hemet police, Denny, with a gun and fake U.S. Marshal’s badge and shirt, knocked on Hibbard’s door and convinced her that he was there…
The Jesus and Mary World Tour (Recent Appearances)
Rathkeale, Ireland, July (Mary on a tree stump). Apia, Samoa, September (Mary on the outside wall of a church). Velyky Berezny, Ukraine, September (Jesus on the outside wall of a factory). Ravena, N.Y., September (Jesus in a coffee stain on a mason jar). Bishopville, S.C., October (Jesus on a kitchen curtain). Southampton, England, November (Jesus…
Ambivalent education
It’s not the intention of this Gazette letter to beat a dead horse; however, there has been much debate about the Genesis/intelligent design/ Darwinism/Big Bang/etc. systems, and their place in education. What is interesting is that the contentions usually end up in mudslinging and efforts to debunk the opposition, without providing good support for one’s…
CFN Quote of the Week
“Mr. Nichols is prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by those refined … (and) dead foods.” “boo-hooing Terry Nichols, writing in third person and announcing a hunger strike against prison food that he says defiles God’s holy temple (i.e.: his body), according to The Oke.
Bills in House and Senate aim to extract Oklahoma from any federal health care bill
With the fate of a federal health care plan up in the air, Oklahoma legislators are anticipating and drafting legislation opting out of any federal health care plan. Both the House Rules Committee and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee have cleared four pieces of legislation earlier this month to be heard by the…
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Everything is complicated, wrote poet Wallace Stevens. “If that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.” I hope you will choose his wisdom to serve as your guiding light in the coming weeks. It is high time, in my astrological opinion, for you to shed any resentment you might…
Teaching moments of humility, responsibility and accountability
I felt empathy with Judy Gibbs Robinson as I read about The Oklahoma Daily’s handling of a controversial editorial cartoon. Judy is editorial adviser of the student newspaper at the University of Oklahoma. Last week, several students and faculty complained to The Daily about a cartoon, a panel showing a man entering a dorm laundry…
OKC-based security company watches America’s Olympic athletes with a high-tech tracking system
When Olympic athletes and trainers get the eerie feeling that someone is watching them, someone is. Jerry Hunter, founder and CEO of US Fleet Tracking, and his crew are keeping a vigilant eye on our nation’s athletes during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. The Oklahoma City-based security and tracking company set up a…
Sad legislature
On Feb. 15, the Oklahoma Senate voted against a measure that would have allowed grocery stores in Tulsa and Oklahoma counties to finally sell wine and high-point beer. Many big grocery chains and specialty stores like World Market and Costco won’t come here because they can’t sell wine and high-point beer. How sad is it…
Maurice Johnson – Tonight
Maurice Johnson’s debut, “Tonight,” is contemporary jazz at its epitome. Although most of the album is neither truly inventive nor groundbreaking, his stylings are certainly worthy of a thorough listen, even if the offering isn’t enough for much more than that. A veteran guitarist, Johnson formed Oklahoma’s popular After Five Jazz Band in 1985 and…
Fracking debate
I challenge Mickey McVay’s assertion in his Feb. 17 Gazette letter (“An ‘oily’ response”) that I impugned his character because of my statement that he could possibly be biased in favor of a new type of gas drilling because he worked in the oil/gas field for 48 years. I think McVay should ask himself if…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
This is one time when you can be both the river and the bridge. In fact, I strongly suggest that you make every effort to be both the river and the bridge. I’ll leave it up to you to interpret how this metaphor applies to your life, but here’s a clue to get you started.…
Right to Remain Silent?
In all likelihood, convicted murderer Paul Powell would have been sentenced to life in prison for his 1999 crime, but he could not resist gratuitously ridiculing the prosecutor. Powell’s original sentence of death was overturned because of a technicality in Virginia law: The “aggravated” circumstance in a murder that warrants the death penalty must be…
Can’t Possibly Be True
A Toronto restaurant, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, announced that its Valentine’s Day promotion this year would not just be a romantic dinner but would also include an invitation for couples to have sex in the restrooms. Toronto Public Health officials appeared unconcerned, as long as there was no sex in food-preparation areas and as long as…
Mick Cornett and Steve Hunt, head to head
Mayor Mick Cornett faces challenger Steve Hunt on Tuesday’s ballot.Age: Cornett: 51 Hunt: 39 Marital Status:Cornett: Married Hunt: Single Political Affiliation:Cornett: Republican Hunt: IndependentChurch:Cornett: Crossings Community Church Hunt: Chapel Hill United Methodist Church Public Offices Held: Cornett: Oklahoma City Council (2001-2004); Oklahoma City Mayor (2004-present)Hunt: None. I was mayor of “SimCity” once, I think.Web: Cornett:…
Writer/artist team release comic book anthology, develop animated series
Brian Winkeler and Eric Sandhop book signing: “Popgun Volume Four”New World Comics and Games6219 N. Meridian5 p.m. Friday, February 26721-7634, www.bastardroad.blogspot.com There’s a time and place when being called a “bastard” should be taken as a compliment.The time is 5 p.m. Friday, and the place is New World Comics and Games, 6219 N. Meridian, when…
Least Competent Criminals
Poorly Conceived: Travis Copeland, 19, bolting from a courtroom in Waukegan, Ill., in January, ran down a hallway and then lowered his shoulder and thrust himself at a window, intending to crash through it to freedom. Courthouse windows are bulletproof, and Copeland merely bounced off, staggered away and fell to the floor in pain. Chamil…
Shutter Island
“Shutter Island” is a dark, creepy examination of madness living next to and indistinguishable from sanity, disguised as a dark, creepy thriller. Director Martin Scorsese (“The Departed”) has a blast tying you in knots with suspense while slipping you a message about the people you see every day, including you. This is how the movie…
The Soft (water) Bulletin
Despite chronic dishevelment, an unkempt persona and a tendency toward thrift store suits, photographic evidence has surfaced to prove that Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne does scrub-a-dub in the tub, or at least did so in 2007 ” possibly in blood. A blurry image snapped by the roving, van-mounted lens of Google’s 360-degree Street…
Oklahoma City University drags audiences to hell in a character-driven adaptation of ‘Don Giovanni’
ke simple guy.” A free director’s talk will be held 45 minutes before each performance. Friday’s show will be preceded by a Mozart-themed buffet style dinner, with musical accompaniment, at 6:15 p.m. in the Atrium of the Bass Music Center. Dinner reservations are $20 and can be made by calling 208-5227.”?Eric Webb
‘Righteous Behavior’
This letter regards the Scott Jones Commentary “The power of persuasion,” published in the Feb. 10 Oklahoma Gazette, in which he reaffirms Roe v. Wade. I would like to call his attention to another decision this esteemed body once made, Dred Scott. In Dred Scott, the court ruled that a runaway slave was still the…
Emancipated slaves who lived in Oklahoma City left behind firsthand accounts
(Editor’s note: To maintain the integrity of the Oklahoma Writers’ Project, some of the verbatim quotes from the slave narratives contain misspellings and offensive subject matter, particularly the racial classifications. Research shows they were part of the vernacular in many instances in that time and would not be used in today’s discourse. This article, based…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Almost exactly ten years from now, you will be blessed with an eruption of personal power that’s so crafty and so practical that you will be able to visualize a solution to a problem that has stumped you for a long time. It may take you months to actually carry out that solution in its…
OKC Zoo hosts ‘Beauty and the Beast’ event about transformation
“Beauty and the Beast”Oklahoma City Zoo2101 NE 50thall ages accompanied by adult $15 for ZooFriends members, $20 for nonmembers; accompanying adults free Reservations required 425-0218, http://okczoo.recware.com Naturalists at the Oklahoma City Zoo are inviting kids to come watch as beasts transform into beauties at 2 p.m. Saturday. “Beauty and the Beast” is focused on metamorphosis,…
District finds MAPS for Kids helped, but still room for improvement
Looking back nine years after MAPS for Kids, the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools found the school district still needs improvement. This morning at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, Foundation Executive Director Lori Dickinson and President Dave Lopez released the organization’s 2009 assessment of MAPS for Kids and asked the Oklahoma City community…
